Liu Yiming (1734-1821)
Liu Yiming 劉一明 (1734–1821) is one of the main representatives of Taoist Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. He was an 11th-generation master of one of the northern branches of the Longmen (Dragon Gate) lineage, and the author of a large number of works that present his teachings on Taoism and Neidan.
Read an article on Liu Yiming's life, works, and teachings.
From Cultivating the Tao: Taoism and Internal Alchemy
These selections are quoted from:
Cultivating the Tao: Taoism and Internal Alchemy, by Liu Yiming (1734-1821). Golden Elixir Press.
True and False Body and Mind
"People nowadays speak of the body and the mind, but they only know the illusory body and mind, and do not know the true body and mind. As they leave the true to follow the false, it is no wonder that even before their number of years is exhausted, their bodies and minds are worn out. . . . "
Precelestial and Postcelestial Yin and Yang
"The precelestial Yin and Yang are Being and Non-Being; the postcelestial Yin and Yang are the heart and the kidneys. The Yin and Yang of Being and Non-Being have no form; the Yin and Yang of the heart and the kidneys have images. . . . "
The One Opening of the Mysterious Barrier
"The main point is that this Opening is the utterly mysterious and utterly wondrous Barrier. Here life and death part from one another, and here the saintly and the ordinary separate from one another. This is the secret transmitted from one Patriarch to the next one since ancient times until the present day. . . . "
Superior Virtue and Inferior Virtue
"Essentially, in superior virtue one's body is intact and one's virtue is full, and the Yang of Qian ☰ has never been damaged. "Never been damaged" means that the precelestial Yang has never been damaged; it does not mean that the postcelestial body has not lost its integrity. . . . "
Other Selections
Other short selections from Cultivating the Tao:
● "I Advise My Companions on the Way"
● "Doing" and "Non-Doing"
● The True and Illusory Body and Mind
● The One Opening of the Mysterious Barrier
● The Internal Companions
● "Laying the Foundations for Refining Oneself" (part 1)
● "Laying the Foundations for Refining Oneself" (part 2)
● Seeking Teachings
● The Great Undertaking
● Erroneous Practices (part 1)
● Erroneous Practices (part 2)
● Studying the Tao
● Inquiring into the Principles
● Original Essence, Breath, and Spirit
From the Commentary to the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality)
These selections are quoted from:
Awakening to Reality: The "Regulated Verses" of the Wuzhen pian, a Taoist Classic of Internal Alchemy. Golden Elixir Press.
Commentary to Poem 3
Those who fulfill both their nature and their existence, who have a body outside their body, whose form and spirit are both wondrous, who are joined in their reality with the Dao, are celestial immortals. . . . . Only the celestial immortals shed their illusory body and achieve a dharmākaya (fashen, the body of Buddhahood), go beyond creation and transformation, and are without birth and without death. . . .
Commentary to Poem 7
This innate knowledge of the celestial mind, this true knowledge of the mind of the Dao, can make one transcend the ordinary and enter sainthood, rise from death and return to life; therefore they are represented by the image of the Medicine. . . .
Other Selections
Other short selections from Liu Yiming's commentary to the Wuzhen pian:
● The Golden Elixir
● True Knowledge
● The Five Agents
From the Commentary to the Cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three)
This selection is quoted from:
The Seal of the Unity of the Three: A Study and Translation of the Cantong qi, the Source of the Way of the Golden Elixir, by Fabrizio Pregadio. Golden Elixir Press
